Rats, I took off to go hunting bear in Yellowstone on my first springtime visit to the park, and there were no bears to be seen.
I know they were there, but not where I was at that moment.
Yellowstone is one of my favorite places in the world, and I try to go as often as I can throughout the year. It was the reason that I came to visit Montana in the first place. It also is the reason I am still hanging around. I have been stalking the animals with a Nikon for a few trips and even talked my mom out of her 200 lens the last time she was here visiting. Do not worry, she got a 300 lens, so she is not out a lens.
The magic of Yellowstone could be the subject of a million posts for me, but today, it is just about the no bears situation that I discovered. Since I am not terribly patient, therefore, not a professional photographer, I must take my photos as I can get them.
My BINGO card of animals in Yellowstone is almost filled. I have not seen a black bear or a swan, but all the rest I have managed to catch a fleeting glimpse of, and it is an extensive list. Here is the mammal list if anyone is interested. http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/mammalscheck.htm
I specifically went in with the intention of spotting the grizzlies, bluebirds, wolves and swans. I was 25 percent successful.
The wolves were on the prowl, and we saw them in a variety of areas. This was the first time that I have seen them wandering about.
The wolves were from one end of Lamar Valley to the other.
We stopped at one point to give Blu a drink and when I got out of the truck, I heard this mournful cry. It was a single wolf howling and I am sure that it meant something to the other wolves. To me, it meant that they were near enough that I would be able to get some photos. This was before we saw them.
The bottom photo is in the same area as we heard the howl. He just got out of the water after jumping in and splashing around. He is a dog after all.
The bonus on our trip, was the baby big horn sheep that were learning to climb rocks. I do not know how many of these guys there were, but they were all over the rocks. They just happened to blend into the rocks making it difficult to see them. This was taken at the North Entrance area by Gardiner, MT.
It was a cold, but clear day in the park. This is looking towards Beartooth Range right outside of Red Lodge, MT. You can see the bison grazing on the meadow in the lower left portion of the photo.
I did not get a great many photos, but I enjoyed myself, and now I am packing to go back down soon. There are bears to take photos of!
Enjoy
Julie and Blu
